Faced by a jumble of rocks and fossils at a new site, one of the most vexing questions for the novice fossil hunter is: Which specimen shall I choose? In other words, which ones will be worth the time and effort to excavate? Or even: Is it a fossil or just a weirdly shaped rock? For beginners, the answer is usually quite simple: Choose almost anyone, since it will be valuable practice that brings precious hands-on experience.